Nigel Brown is one of New Zealand’s most significant figurative artists. His distinctive narrative style of painting is profoundly influenced by social, political and environmental concerns. From the 1980s onwards, his works have tackled issues of nuclear weapons, feminism, the peace movement, a series challenging the notion of the staunch ‘New Zealand man’, legendary figures of national identity, native birds, the ponga as the tree of life, and natural landforms.

Nigel Brown (born 1949, Invercargill) graduated from Elam School of Fine Art, University of Auckland in 1971. In 1981 he was awarded a Creative New Zealand Grant for travel to the United States, the United Kingdom, and Western Europe. Exhibiting and publishing widely, highlights in his career include receiving the Inaugural Artists to Antarctica Award in 1998, and the Order of New Zealand Merit for services to painting and printmaking in 2004. Brown lives and works in Dunedin.